


Wishes in Ink

by kinosternon



Category: Natsume Yuujinchou | Natsume's Book of Friends
Genre: Christmas, Fluff, Gen, Holidays
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-01-18
Updated: 2020-01-18
Packaged: 2021-02-27 06:26:56
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,263
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/22302571
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/kinosternon/pseuds/kinosternon
Summary: By the time he spends his first Christmas Eve with the Fujiwaras, Natsume is well over the age that children usually stop sending letters to Santa Claus. He does it anyway.
Relationships: Fujiwara Shigeru & Natsume Takashi, Fujiwara Touko & Natsume Takashi, Madara "Nyanko-sensei" & Natsume Takashi
Comments: 9
Kudos: 71





	Wishes in Ink

**Author's Note:**

> Written for the Natsume Secret Santa 2019 gift exchange on Tumblr. 
> 
> I know a little bit about Christmases in Japan, but my friend who works with little kids knows more, so I did some consulting. Hopefully the result is somewhat accurate!

"Look at this!" Touko said, putting her hand to her face in delight. "Oh, it's gorgeous! I'm so glad we came!" 

Natsume, glancing around, had to agree. It had been a bit of a long drive to the Christmas market, but drives with the Fujiwaras were comfortable, even if they were quiet. Part of that was the scenery—there wasn't a lot of traffic on the highways, and always trees or some other pleasant scenery to look at, even against the dreary winter sky—but another part was the way that even the silences were somehow at ease, filled with warmth. He knew it was fine to break the silences because Touko had done so every few miles, pointing out something of interest.

When they arrived, the number of people and noise was jarring by contrast, but it quickly resolved itself into cheerful riot of bright colors and sparkling lights, red and green and white and yellow. Natsume's breath puffed in front of his face as he stayed a step and a half behind the Fujiwaras and tried to get a look at everything at once. 

Sensei would have liked the food on sale, he thought, but there was enough of it that he was a little glad he'd stayed home; he'd only had him for a few months, but he'd been bad enough at the festivals he had been to that he was sure it would've been a problem here, too...

"Oh goodness," Touko said, turning to Shigeru and nudging him—and then Natsume too, a moment later. "Look, Shigeru-san, Takashi-kun!" 

She was pointing to a large decoration in the center of the square. A large, angular display in the shape of a Christmas tree stretched up high enough that Natsume had to crane his neck to see the top, and at its base...

Touko giggled, delighted, as she watched a small child toddle up with her father and stand on her very tippy-toes to push an envelope into the large, fake-frosted opening. "Letters to Santa Claus! I remember writing those when I was a little girl." 

Shigeru smiled. "I think I did that for a few years myself," he said. "I kind of wish I'd stuck with it for a little longer—” 

"Shh!" Touko scolded, batting at him. "Shigeru-san! There are children present!" 

"Hm?" Shigeru said, suddenly all innocence. "I don't know what you mean. If I'd kept writing letters, then Santa-san might have sent me presents for a few more years. That's all I meant." 

Touko nodded, mollified. "I'm sure it is." 

Natsume, who'd been watching them, puzzled, jumped a bit when both their gazes landed squarely on him. "Huh?" 

"Takashi-kun," Touko said, "When was the last time you wrote a letter to Santa-san?" 

Natsume blinked. "Um..." 

The answer was probably never. Or then again, maybe they'd done them as a project at school once; he didn't really remember. If he'd written one, he'd certainly never taken it back to whatever guardian he'd been with at the time—that was pretty much the definition of making a nuisance of himself, asking his relatives to get him presents on top of taking him in. 

(Not that some of them hadn't given him presents anyway. Winter was a very convenient time to get hand-me-downs, and he'd always tried to show his gratitude.)

Somehow, though, he didn't think any truthful answer would be one that Touko would want to hear, so he stalled out, wondering if there was any gracious way he could change the topic. 

"Now, Touko-san," Shigeru said, putting a hand on her shoulder. "Takashi-kun is already pretty grown-up. He might not want be interested in this sort of thing." 

Natsume could see the moment her expression dimmed a bit, even as she kept smiling. "You're right, of course. I'm sorry, Takashi-kun, I didn't mean to tease..." 

"It's—it's fine," Natsume stammered. "I don't...really remember doing that, but...uh, it seems...fun?" 

Touko's eyes lit right back up again. "Really? You know, Takashi-kun, there's no such thing as too old. Would you like to write one?" 

Natsume had the distinct feeling he'd backed himself into a corner. "...Now?" he managed. 

Shigeru smiled. "Maybe not right now," he said, nudging Touko. "It might be a little embarrassing, after all." 

That hadn't been exactly what Natsume meant, but it was close enough. 

"That's true..." Touko admitted. "Besides, there's no need to rush. And you really don't have to humor me, if you'd rather not, Takashi-kun." 

The glance Touko was giving him was warm, but Natsume could see the hope in it too, and couldn't find it in himself to disagree. "I'll...try?" he offered. 

Touko beamed at him, and in that moment at least, Natsume found it impossible to regret his answer. 

* * *

Back home that evening, however, he magically rediscovered his capacity for second-guessing himself. 

"This was a bad idea," he groaned. 

A few feet away, Nyanko nibbled on the souvenir baumkuchen that Natsume had brought him. "You're overthinking it," he said matter-of-factly. "Just ask for food. That's what I'd do." 

"I...don't think that's right." Natsume was pretty sure that wasn't the point of a letter to Santa Claus. It was supposed to be a thing that children wished for, and most children didn't wish for food, he was pretty sure. 

"Right or not, it's obvious." Nyanko gave him a long look. "Or do you want to ask for something that's more trouble?" 

Natsume didn't know. He sighed and looked around the room. What was he even supposed to ask for? He had enough furniture in his room. They'd already bought him clothes—new ones, not just hand-me-downs, and more than half the time when they'd been shopping, Touko had seen him heading for the bargain section and steered him right back out again. 

It was more than any of the other families he'd lived with had done, and they'd been keeping it up for months. Part of him was still dazed, unsure how to process so many acts of generosity stacked one on top of another. 

By now, it usually just made him feel warm. But sometimes, like now, he was still overwhelmed with the urge to not mess things up. He wasn't sure he could be a perfect enough guest—or tenant, or whatever—to match the level of the Fujiwaras' hospitality, and every now and then, occasionally, that struck him as moderately terrible.

If he was going to ask them for something, then—if he was going to have them go to the trouble—it had to be something he actually wanted. Not something big enough to be a burden, but significant enough that Shigeru and Touko (especially Touko, even Natsume didn't think that Shigeru cared quite as much about this kind of thing) would feel good about giving it to him. 

Because they had to enjoy it, he thought. If they were putting this much effort into being kind to him, while getting so little in return, it must be at least in part because they wanted to. Touko wouldn't have asked for him to do this if it wasn't something that would make her happy. 

So. Something significant. Something hard to use, and useful, maybe, that he could carry with him and she'd see him using and know that he appreciated her gift? But if he carried it around with him, it couldn't be that large, but to be significant it couldn't be too small either...

"You're muttering to yourself," Nyanko-sensei said. "Isn't that a sign of insanity in humans? I don't think this was intended as a test or anything—Reiko might have done something like that back in the day, but these humans aren't as spiteful as she was." 

Natsume sighed, nodding, still half-lost in thought. Out of habit, hearing about Reiko, his gaze moved to the closet door, which concealed his box and his treasures, and most of all—

"Oh!" 

"Oh?" A feline twitch, followed by a dry look at being startled. "Did you finally figure something out, foolish human?" 

"Shh," Natsume said, already hovering his pen over the paper. "I'm trying to think of what to write. ...How do I even start? 'Dear Santa Claus'?" 

Letting Nyanko-sensei's irritated squawks at being ignored fade into familiar background noise, Natsume bent his head to his task, trying to keep his handwriting as neat as possible. 

He still wasn't sure what he was doing, but given the grin he caught on Touko's face when she saw that he'd left the completed letter on the dining room table, she thought he'd done just fine. 

* * *

Christmas Eve showed up more quickly than Natsume would have expected. 

Part of that was school—there were exams to get through, and then a few extra days of classes that only filled up the time till the closing ceremony, and spending time with friends now that they all had time again without worrying about studying. And he'd tried to get something small for Touko and Shigeru, because, well, why not? Shigeru drank a lot of tea and he'd spotted a nice coaster, and he'd noticed that a few of Touko's potholders in the kitchen were starting to wear through, so he'd gotten a new one. 

Small things, out-of-the-way, but hopefully useful; he wanted them to enjoy them without worrying that he'd gone to too much trouble to get them. 

The other part of what made the time go so fast was Touko's obvious enthusiasm. She cooked up a storm the week leading up to Christmas, including getting the ingredients for a Christmas cake from the grocery store and decorating it with whipped cream and strawberries. At her instruction, Natsume and Shigeru were set to work putting up a decorations around the house, to Shigeru's laughing bewilderment. 

Touko scolded him when he pointed out in an amused voice that they'd never gone to quite this much trouble before, but then he'd gone behind Touko's back to invite Natsume out to a department store. They bought a small fake tree, set it up in the living room, and waited for Touko to notice. Her reaction had absolutely been worth the pinprick of guilt to Natsume's conscience when they'd snuck out without telling her what they were up to. 

This also meant that there was a place to put gifts, and when Natsume snuck down on the afternoon of Christmas Eve with his clumsily wrapped trinkets, he discovered that there was already a box covered in sparkling paper sitting just in front of the tree. He slid his gifts in on either side, guiltily trying not to look, but when he turned away from the tree—

"Ah, Takashi-kun! Not sneaking a peek, I hope?" 

He winced and felt his face start to heat up as he turned to look at Touko. Her hands were on her hips, but...her eyes were sparkling with amusement. Natsume blinked, momentarily at a loss. 

"No, I..."

Touko cocked her head, and started to glance over her shoulder, and his brain rebooted himself. He stuck out his hands and waved them, trying to deter her. 

"I mean, yes, uh, sorry! You caught me! B-but I didn't touch anything, don't worry—” 

"Oh!" It seemed Touko had caught a glimpse of the now-group of presents; her expression wiped itself blank, the picture of innocence. "Well, as long as you understand. Come on, no peeking till later this evening, all right?" 

With the distinct impression that he was in on a joke, Natsume nodded, trying to keep a straight face, and followed her out of the living room. 

That evening, after dinner and a slice each of homemade Christmas cake (which Shigeru and Natsume had, deservedly, praised to the moon), they sat down together in the living room and Touko caught Natsume's eye, winking. 

"Do you want to see what Santa-san brought you, Takashi-kun?" 

"...Sure," Natsume said, and awkwardly bent down to retrieve the box from the base of the tree. 

It was amazing, how two sets of eyes could suddenly make him feel like he was in front of a huge audience. Or three, rather; he could feel Sensei's eyes on him from where he'd perched on one corner of the coffee table. 

He kept his eyes down as he carefully pried away the tape at the corners and pulled the paper, still in one piece, away from the box. Then, carefully, he worked it open, pulled away the wrapping paper, and gazed at the gift underneath. 

It was exactly what he'd asked for, but also even better than he'd imagined. 

Sturdy, earth-tone canvas with what looked like leather piping; it could be slung over a shoulder or hung at the hip. The lining appeared to be waterproof, and the buckles felt like real metal. It was wonderful; the Book would fit in it perfectly, in a place where he could feel it and safely at hand whenever he had to take it out to deal with youkai....

...They must have spent much more on it than he'd imagined, too. 

He opened his mouth and looked from Shigeru to Touko. "Th—”

He was interrupted by a hand on his shoulder. "Santa thinks you've been a very good boy this year," Touko said firmly, her eyes sparkling. "Well done, Takashi-kun." 

Natsume closed his mouth, and swallowed. "R-right," he said, voice rough. "I..." He took a deep breath that shuddered a bit. "I think he, um, left some other things, too," he said, and scared up a smile from somewhere, wobbly but also very, very real. "Touko-san, Shigeru-san, you should take a look..."

**Author's Note:**

> Cultural notes: Christmas in Japan isn't as big of a deal as it is in the US and elsewhere. Children usually only get one present from their parents, which they might ask Santa Claus for in a letter and which they open on Christmas Eve. 
> 
> (There is Christmas cake and fried chicken, though. And usually a number of illuminations in public places from December till as late as February, which are gorgeous.) 
> 
> Anyway, thanks for reading!


End file.
